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Definition 2024


both-handed

both-handed

English

Alternative forms

  • both handed

Adjective

both-handed (not comparable)

  1. Skilled or able to use either hand, with unspecified degrees of equalness; ambidextrous.
    • 2014, Sherwood Smith & ‎Rachel Manija Brown, Stranger, ISBN 1101615397:
      “I'm ambidextrous,” she replied. “Both-handed. Dad says it's rare.”
  2. Denoting either right-handed or left-handed; either-handed.
    • 2006, Mamoru Kaneko, Game Theory and Mutual Misunderstanding: Scientific Dialogues in Five Acts, ISBN 354026812X, page 210:
      [Morimori, looking for a pair of scissors in the desk] Shinzuki Morimori Shinzuki: Yes, that is right. This is asymmetric one, so it is both-handed.
  3. For use with both hands or using both hands.
    • 2013, Adrian Van Young, The Man Who Noticed Everything, ISBN 1480448869:
      He stood a bit far of the gloom of the lobby, but short of the dazzle of the stairs, and he clenched his briefcase at his chest in a tense and both-handed, reptilian grip, as if whatever he had in it must be guarded at all costs.
  4. Involving two sides or approaches
    • 2013, Jae Ho Chung, China's Crisis Management, ISBN 1136634517:
      The principle of being “both-handed” or “talk for talk and fight for fight” suggests the necessity to combine soft means with tough ones and to struggle while seeking cooperation.

Adverb

both-handed (not comparable)

  1. With both hands
    • 1998, Jeffery Deaver, The Coffin Dancer:
      Then the brown-haired detective charged around the corner firing both-handed, skimming two off Stephen's vest, while Stephen himself danced one round off the detective's and they fell backward simultaneously.
  2. Involving two sides or approaches
    • 2010, Allan R. Millett & ‎Williamson Murray, Military Effectiveness - Volume 3, ISBN 0521425913, page 104:
      Our second front will, in fact, comprise both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe, and we can push either right-handed, left-handed, or both-handed as our resources and circumstances permit.

Derived terms

See also